Witches of the Midwest: Folklore, Hexes, and the People They Called Witches

Send us Fan MailWhat does it take for an ordinary neighbor to become the town witch?Across the Midwest, stories survived of women blamed for strange illnesses, failed crops, unexplained deaths and supposed hexes. In Southern Illinois, crowds gathered to watch two sisters who claimed they had been bewitched. In Cincinnati, children became convinced that an elderly woman reading by candlelight was practicing magic. And in Rochester, Indiana, Irene Ray's reputation became so frightening that residents eventually demanded she be prosecuted for witchcraft.Andrew and Terri explore those stories alongside old Midwestern witch folklore, the complicated history of folk healers and accusations, modern Wicca and contemporary witchcraft, Chicago's extraordinary mail-order occult industry, and the legends that transformed Whitewater, Wisconsin into the so-called “Second Salem.”Because sometimes the strangest part of a witch story isn't the magic.It's how certain everyone becomes that the witch is real.New episodes released regularly.Join Paranormal Mystery Author Terri Reid and researcher Andrew T. Reid as they explore ghosts, cryptids, alien encounters, and other unexplained mysteries.If you'd like to share your opinion, thoughts, or your own paranormal experience with us, please contact us at [email protected].